Waller County officials acknowledged in court papers that they rejected voter registration applications from Prairie View A&M University students through practices the U.S. Justice Department described as violations of federal laws.

Justice officials filed suit in Houston federal court Thursday against the county and Waller Registrar Ellen C. Shelburne. The complaint, alleging voting and civil rights violations, was followed by a consent decree to settle the case.

The agreement must be approved by a panel of three federal judges.

The lawsuit stems from voting changes the county made in 2007 without the required federal clearance. The county's new rules included refusing any application the registrar's staff deemed incomplete. Most of those registrations were filed by students who attend PVAMU, a historically black college.

Under Texas law, a person cannot be denied the right to vote because of a registration error or omission if it is not material to the person's qualification to cast a ballot.

According to the consent decree, Waller County officials rejected applications without a ZIP code and registrations that weren't filed on the most current form.

The county has seven days to re-process voter registrations rejected since 2007. Applicants who meet the requirements of state law and are not registered elsewhere will be able to vote in the Nov. 4 general election.

Houston attorney Debra Mergle, who represents the county and Shelburne, said she didn't know how many voters might be added to the county's roll as a result of the decree.

"I don't anticipate there will be very many at all," she said.

But Waller Justice of the Peace DeWayne Charleston estimates that the county's review will turn up several hundred voters who were illegally left off voting lists.

"The Justice Department has given validity to the fact that many students were denied the right to register to vote," said Charleston, a critic of the county's voting practices.

"That the county owned up to it lends credence to our rush to try to slow down that Waller bond election because the Waller County rolls were not legitimate."

A $49 million Waller ISD school construction bond passed by 300 votes in May 2007. Charleston estimates 200 to 300 potential voters, mostly PVAMU students, were illegally rejected prior to that vote.

Shelburne, the county tax assessor who also serves as voting registrar, was sued in her official capacity. Neither she nor County Judge Owen Ralston could be reached for comment.

Section 5 of the 1965 Voting Rights Act requires certain local governments, including Waller County, and some states, including Texas, to get federal approval before changing voting procedures. Created to remedy documented discrimination, the provision requires a jurisdiction to prove that election changes do not have the intent or effect of discriminating against minority voters.

Waller County's voting age population is 52 percent white and 31 percent black, according to the federal lawsuit.

"By promptly agreeing to settle this matter, the county has demonstrated a commitment to addressing past problems and to complying with federal law in the future," Grace Chung Becker, acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department's civil rights division, said in a news release.

The agreement also requires Waller County officials to hold voting registrar training on the Prairie View campus and conduct voter registration drives at the campus student center.